So the fan voting is done. Yippee! Fans don't give two (or even one) shit about Seahawks players. I mean, WE do. We are Seahawks fans. We know who we like, and we know they aren't household names yet. So this should come as no surprise. It's kind of disappointing, but at the same time, fans are sort of starting to notice Kam Chancellor. So that's a good thing.
They kind of notice Earl Thomas too, but not really anybody else. That's unfortunate, but the good news is that fans are idiots. No, not you. You're smart. You're a Seahawks fan (wait... does that make a person smart? We should have been Patriots fans!) But as a majority, fans don't really know a whole lot about football.
Fans watch ESPN. They listen to ESPN. They go to ESPN.com. (ESPN, if you're reading this... Yes, I want a job and no, I totaallly don't mean what I just said.) So they don't know a whole lot about sports outside of the mainstream media and the mainstream media does have an agenda. (Again, I'm just kidding if you're hiring at ESPN!) The mainstream media needs to appeal to the masses, and the masses live in places like New York, Boston, and L.A. That's where the money is spent and that's how ESPN makes money.
That's how all of mainstream media makes loads and loads of cash. Everybody except for NBC that is.
So, when it comes to fan voting, you get what you get. There are rarely surprises and the only way a deserving but not-yet-famous player gets recognition from fans is if he is having a phenomenal season. Kam is a hitting highlight reel that stayed in the news for fines, like a younger version of James Harrison.
Earl Thomas went to Texas, was a first-round pick, and made a lot of highlights in 2010.
They finished 3rd and 4th in fan voting respectively. No other Seahawk finished in the top 5. Do other Seahawks deserve top 5? Yes. Does that mean they won't make the Pro Bowl? Hell no.
Luckily, the NFL doesn't work like the NBA or the MLB and doesn't let fans decide who gets recognition for playing their position the best. Fan voting is weighed evenly with player and coach votes, and in the end we have a Pro Bowl roster for the AFC and the NFC. Yay!
And it's the worst "All Star" game in sports. Yay!
And nobody watches. Yay!
And 85 players will pull out and decide not to play in it, so then there could be at least 20 Seahawks at one point or another. Yay!
Here's a breakdown of the results:
QB
Aaron Rodgers 1,581,982
Drew Brees 1,188,893
Cam Newton
Matthew Stafford
Eli Manning
Notes: No real surprises or fan flubs here. Rodgers is the obvious choice and will be the obvious choice by the players and coaches. Brees has actually played better as of late, but how could Rodgers be called a bad choice? I might rather see Matt Ryan instead of Cam Newton, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't consider watching part of the Pro Bowl if Newton were playing, so I get it. No snubs for the Seahawks here, but maybe Charlie Whitehurst will be an alternate.
RB
LeSean McCoy 962,824
Adrian Peterson 925,554
Matt Forte
Frank Gore
Michael Turner
Notes: Well, Forte won't play in this game. McCoy is the right choice for #1, but Adrian Peterson has missed plenty of time, not that he's not a "Pro Bowl player." It would be hard to argue against Lynch if you watched him play, but fans have only seen him twice this year and Gore and Turner haven't exactly played bad. I am going to guess that Lynch plays in the Pro Bowl this season.
WR
Calvin Johnson 1,180,777
Greg Jennings 875,980
Larry Fitzgerald
Steve Smith
Jordy Nelson
Notes: You can't make a serious case for any Hawks here and Calvin Johnson was one of the leading vote-getters in the NFL, which is understandable because he might be the best non-QB in the NFL. The ongoing trend in the voting is "Too many Packers" and I've seen comments from Packers fans that agree with that. Where is Victor Cruz (73 for 1,194 and 7 TD)? Where is Roddy White? Larry Fitzgerald is maybe the 2nd best WR in the NFL still and has come on lately to get his numbers where they need to be and Steve Smith has deserving numbers as well. Jordy Nelson is actually a better selection than Jennings.
FB
John Kuhn, GB 322,260
Bruce Miller, SFO 82,378
Jed Collins, NO
Tony Fiammetta, DAL
Tyler Clutts, CHI
Notes: Should Michael Robinson be going? Do I care? It would be cool, but I'm not usually paying attention to how other teams fullbacks do in comparison to ours. Kuhn scores touchdowns and that's fine by me as a Pro Bowl selection. Collins is a former Coug, so I would love to see him go.
TE
Jimmy Graham 725,612
Tony Gonzalez 397,598
Jason Witten
Jermichael Finley
Vernon Davis
Notes: Did you have any idea that there were this many talented tight ends in the NFC? Me neither! We're Ignorance Buddies! At least when it comes to NFC Tight Ends! I totally flunked that class in college. I was too busy playing Xbox- I mean sleeping with girls! Fred Davis has better numbers (depending on how you look at it) than Finley or Davis, but who cares? THIRD IN NFC TIGHT END VOTING! Remember when signing Zach Miller seemed cool? Why don't fans vote for blocking?!?!
SPEAKING OF BLOCKING:
Chad Clifton, GB
Bryan Bulaga, GB
TJ Lang, GB
Josh Sitton, GB
Scott Wells, GB
Notes: Why did I list the Green Bay Packers entire offensive line you ask? BECAUSE APPARENTLY THEY ARE THE FANS CHOICE FOR STARTING LINE IN THE NFC PRO BOWL GAME IF MY SOURCE IS CORRECT. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE PACKERS DONT REALLY RUN BLOCK? LIKE AT ALL! HAVE FUN NFC RUNNING BACKS.
Caps lock.... off.
Russell Okung was our only hope Obi Wan Kenobi, and he got hurted. Max Unger for Pro Bowl alternate? I don't really know. Maybe?
DE
Jared Allen 784,527
Jason Babin 403,980
Julius Peppers
Chris Long
Osi Umenyiora
Notes: Plain and simple, DE voting comes down to sacks and name recognition. Allen has 17.5 and even if you think he's a giant douche, he's going to the Pro Bowl. And even at that, he's deserving. He's the most dominating end in the game, in my opinion. If he has competition in that category though, it's absent from this list: Jason Pierre-Paul leads DE's in tackles with 76, is third in pass deflections with 6, has a safety, and 13.5 sacks. He will make the Pro Bowl, but the fans picked the wrong (and more obvious, which makes it not a surprise) Giant defensive end. Dear New York, you have like 100 million people, so get the vote right. You control it already, why else would we get 9 Yankees in every AL All-Star lineup? Oh yeah, because you bought them all :(
Former Seahawk and current Eagle Babin leads the NFC in sacks with 18. He had 30 in his career before this season. (And 12.5 of those came with the Titans last year.)
Former Eagle and current Seahawk Chris Clemons is tied for 7th in the NFC with 11 sacks. He could get in later, after nine other players drop out. Red Bryant was never going to get any fan votes because he cares more about getting a pick six than a sack. And it works out fine for us.
DT
Justin Smith, SFO 525,578
Ndamukong Suh, DET 516,952
Cullen Jenkins, PHI
BJ Raji, GB
Henry Melton, CHI
Notes: Say what you want about Suh, but he is the best DT in the game. I also thought that Justin Smith was a DE, but I haven't scouted the Niners yet. The game is only three days away, what am I thinking?! Brandon Mebane is very good, but will he ever have that "Pro Bowl" shine to fan voters?
OLB
DeMarcus Ware 581,554
Clay Matthews 558,672
Brian Orakpo, WAS
Lance Briggs, CHI
Sean Weatherspoon, ATL
Notes: Geico, now looking for it's 37th mascot, has chosen Brian Orakpo. NFL players are rarely chosen as spokesman for products or television commercials. At least, not outside linebackers. Not outside linebackers for the Redskins. Not 2nd year outside linebackers for the Redskins. Not 2nd year outside linebackers for the Redskins with a hard-to-pronounce names. I can imagine somebody saying to their wife or husband, "I really want to go with Geico because of that O-rapp-ah-go guy." What, the eyes with money or the Gecko weren't doing it for you, but Brian Orakpo sealed the deal? What were we talking about again?
MLB
Patrick Willis 417,923
Desmond Bishop, GB 344,315
Brian Urlacher
AJ Hawk
London Fletcher
Notes: Remember when A.J. Hawk was cut? After winning a Super Bowl? But also after he was Clay Mathews before Clay Mathews was Clay Mathews? Yeah. Well, he also got like 200,000 more votes because he is a Packer and because some fans thought he was Clay Mathews. Clay Mathews is the new "hanging Chad." Way to go Florida, you screwed shit up again. A.J. Hawk has 68 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He has less tackles than Charles Woodson. He has less tackles than a guy named Jo-Lonn Dunbar. Jo-Lonn Dunbar should be ahead of Hawk in voting.
CB
Charles Woodson 763,198
Carlos Rogers 282,409
Nnamdi Asomugha
Chris Houston, DET
Charles Tillman
Notes: I also remember when Woodson's career seemed over in Oakland, and even if he is overrated at times, can we say he's not a "Pro Bowler"? Of course, there's always a whole lot of overrated in the CB list. Fans ALWAYS go off of name recognition. They know that they were told that Nnamdi was the best (behind Revis maybe) but Nnamdi has not been the best for the Eagles. Richard Sherman has probably played better. Hell, Brandon Browner might be playing better. I think Browner will make the Pro Bowl. Sherman might make alternate. This list is dumb. Don't Bears fans hate Tillman now?
SS
Roman Harper 147,542
Charlie Peprah, GB 141,553
Kam Chancellor 110,061
Kurt Coleman, PHI
Donte Whitner, SFO
Notes: YAAAYYYY!!!!!!!! I wrote that I loved Kam, so why wouldn't I want him in the Pro Bowl or argue that he doesn't belong there? He's a safety on the rise, the kind of name that could really become a household one for hard hits, and is only in his first year as starter. Good things on the horizon for Kam and possibly multiple Pro Bowl selections, including one this season.
FS
Morgan Burnett, GB 223,292
Dashon Goldson, SFO 95,403
Antrel Rolle, NYG
Earl Thomas, 70,772
Gerald Sensabaugh, DAL
Notes: Beekers says that Thomas is the key to the Hawks defense, and why should I argue against that? Thomas has fallen behind a bit as the "fourth most popular" secondary player lately, or at least it kind of feels like that, but there's nothing wrong with being under the radar. He's not so under the radar apparently that he didn't finish fourth in Pro Bowl voting and first in my head. You'll notice that the Niners and Packers pretty much dominated the voting, which just means that we need to win the Super Bowl and then we'll have like 3 deserving Pro Bowl players next year and then like 15 others that weren't so deserving. Fans always love to get on the nuts of the Niners whenever they get the chance, so being 11-3 and in first place gave them that chance. Thomas could slide into the Pro Bowl this season, and be very deserving. He'd be the sensible choice, which is better than being the Sensebaugh choice... amirite? Huh? Huuuuhhh? Sorry, is anyone still reading?
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